My 5K Experience

It seems like only days ago when I asked for advice for running a 5K. Fortunately, I listened to your suggestions, and they were extremely helpful. Well, with the exception of the anonymous poster who wrote, “Is it this weekend? Then you’re SOL.” Turns out I was SIL, or something. In my first ever 5K race, I finished in a time of 27:31. Considering that I didn’t train at all for the race, I think I did pretty well.

Naturally, I have thoughts about the race that I’d like to share:

- I don’t own an iPod, but I borrowed one for the race. The first song that played as I started was Linkin Park’s One Step Closer. Now that’s a song to get you pumped up! Unfortunately, much of the race consisted of songs by the Goo Goo Dolls, Cindy Lauper’s Time After Time and Carrie Underwood’s Before He Cheats, which were not quite the songs to get your adrenaline pumping (though I enjoyed ABBA’s Dancing Queen).

- Whoever designed the course needs to, um, not design courses anymore. Sure, it was nice that most of the first mile was downhill, but I probably didn’t take advantage of this as much as I should have as I was trying to pace myself. However, most of the last mile was not just uphill, but as steep as the Monongahela Incline.



Sure, I may be exaggerating a little, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a treadmill with an incline setting to match the closing climb.

- Bertucci’s Italian Restaurant sponsored the 5K benefitting the American Cancer Society. Therefore, the post-race food included pasta, bruschetta and pizza. These were all food items I had no interest in eating after running 3+ miles at 9:30 AM.

- You could tell that I was a running novice during the one water station at the race’s midpoint. I tried to drink some of the water while running, but spilled most of it on my shirt.

- I finished behind a guy who ran with a black lab dog on a leash. We were fairly even but he passed me as I struggled with the uphill climb.

- Conversely, I finished ahead of a teenager who looked like Rufio from Hook with almost the exact same haircut.



- The winner finished in a time of approximately 15:30. While I have no proof, I’m pretty sure that he cheated.

Finally, here’s a picture of me about to cross the finish line. I’m the guy behind the guy who decided to go with an all-out sprint at the finish (and mess up the picture). I was too tired to sprint.



Thanks to lacochran for organizing the race among DC bloggers.